Taking a deep breath to try to ease the constriction around his chest, Nathanial let it out slowly.
“Yes, she has the dowry, but not the social connections nor the experience with theton.I have barely begun to right the damage my father did to our family’s reputation, and I have three sisters to settle.”The bands around his chest were tightening again.Now he was having no difficulty keeping his voice down, so only Christian and Gregory could hear him, and he was grateful the others were so engrossed in their own conversations.
Christian frowned.
“Juliette… she should have made her come-out this year.”
Count on Christian to remember something so insignificant.Gregory frowned as well.
“That cannot be right,” Gregory started to say, but his voice trailed off.
“Time does fly, does it not?”Nathanial asked wryly.He reached up to scrub his hand across his face.“Yes, under other circumstances, Juliette would have made her debut this year.”
“Why did you not let her?I understand the cost, but the merchants would not have expected to be paid immediately.”Gregory’s frown deepened.“Or would they?”
“To me?I expect they would have made an allowance with both Juliette and me on the marriage market, but I could not do that to her.My sisters will be able to marry whoever they want, using whatever criteria they want.”
Both of his friends stared at him in silence for a long moment.Nathanial looked away, focusing on the glass of brandy in his hand, the heaviness of the cut crystal, the sharp edges pressing against his fingers as he lifted it and swirled the liquid inside.
“You mean, you will not have Juliette put in the same position as you,” Gregory said softly, his voice full of sympathy and understanding.
“What if she was willing?”Christian asked, frowning.“Why does it have to be you?”
Nathanial’s grip on the glass tightened, the discomfort of the crystal digging into his skin turning to slight pain as he forced himself to relax his jaw so he could answer.
“It is my responsibility.My father, as the duke, ran… everything into the ground.As the duke, it is up to me to repair it.I will not sacrifice any of my sisters upon the altar of marriage in order to fix a problem they had nothing to do with creating.”
“You will only sacrifice yourself.”Christian’s voice was soft, almost as though he was speaking more to himself than to Nathanial.He sounded confused, like he could not understand why Nathanial would not look for a solution byanymeans necessary.
Looking up, Nathanial met Gregory’s eyes.Christian had no other siblings, but Gregory had three half-sisters, who he doted on.Though they were far younger than him, arranging for their futures was something he already considered his responsibility.He nodded, his gaze full of understanding.
Gregory knew what it was to bear the burden, as well as the responsibility, of a dukedom and family.Christian had no dependents, other than two grandmothers who got on famously and were perfectly able to take care of themselves—and each other.
Perhaps one day, if he had daughters, he would understand then.
Kalina
The parlor was quieter without the gentlemen, the energy a little softer, less frenetic.The other ladies were no longer posing or artlessly flirting with their admirers but had fallen to chatting among themselves.Lady Blackstone’s set made their way to the most comfortable couches by the unlit fireplace.Kalina allowed herself to be led by Tiffany toward the window seat where Lady Johanna and Miss Belle were already sitting, slightly apart from the other young ladies who occupied a nearby grouping of chairs.
Lady Johanna appeared wan, perhaps a trifle overwhelmed after being the center of the Duke of Montagu’s attentions over dinner.She managed a smile, though her eyes widened at Tiffany’s approach.Immediately, she jumped to her feet, Miss Belle hot on her heels, and spread her pearly grey skirts wide as she dipped into a curtsy of the appropriate degree.
“Your Grace.”Both Lady Johanna and Miss Belle spoke the title almost simultaneously.
“Please, let us not stand on ceremony,” Tiffany said, smiling broadly.“May Miss Little and I join you?”
“Of course,” Lady Johanna said hastily, moving to the side to make room for them.“I could stand?—”
“No, no, there is room for all four of us, even with our skirts,” Tiffany said, laughing lightly.She waved her hand, gesturing for Lady Johanna and Miss Belle to sit.They could hardly refuse her command.Kalina sat down as well on Tiffany’s other side.“Lady Astrid suggested we all get to know each other better.As both Bolton’s sister and Clarence’s wife, I have rather extensive knowledge of the peccadillos of their friends.Ah, and here is another who also knows the dukes quite well.”
“The tragic dukes, you mean?”Delilah, the Baroness Ashfield, said as she walked up to join them.A footman obligingly appeared to pull a chair closer for her to sit in, and she thanked him before gracefully sitting down.Today, she wore pale yellow with a gold Grecian pattern edging the bottom hem of her skirts, a gold and creamfichumodestly covering thedecolletagerevealed by the gown’s low neckline.A single yellow gem on a gold chain hung between the delicatefichu’slacy drapes.With her dark hair piled high on her head to contrast with the lighter colors of her dress and showing off earbobs to match her necklace, she was quite striking in appearance.
“The tragic dukes?”Miss Belle asked, the corners of her mouth turning down and making Kalina blink in surprise.Perhaps she was a new companion to Lady Johanna?But the blonde debutante was frowning in confusion as well.
Kalina had not seen either of them before, that she could recall, but she assumed they had been attending different events than her.There were certainly enough to go around.
But how could they have been among thetonfor any length of time without hearing about the tragic dukes?
“Those gathered here,” Delilah said, gesturing broadly back toward the parlor door, and therefore back to the dining room where they’d left the gentlemen.“And the Duke of Grafton as well.”
